What should we bring for our month stay in a hotel suite?

Do not forget your phone or other device chargers.

For you just bring enough clothes for a week. Don’t forget a couple of sweaters/sweatshirts and a coat. For him bring more clothes if he works in dress shirts and suits so you don’t have to worry about dry cleaning every few days, and then he needs comfy clothes for outside of work. One nice outfit each so if you are invited to something more formal you don’t have to splurge on a new dress. Don’t forget the shoes that go with it.

Any important documents like birth certificate or passport.

If your hotel doesn’t have a safe get a box at the bank.

Repeat bring warm clothes (you’re moving North), prescriptions transfer to new location and references for new doctors (locate new Doctors and transfer medical records).

Find out what else the kitchen stocks. Is there a coffeepot? a large salad bowl? a pot big enough for spaghetti? Are there serving spoons, a ladle, an egg beater, a potato masher, decent knives, spatulas, rubber scrapers, a vegetable peeler? If you plan to cook and eat there, you’ll find that there are dozens of things you reach for automatically at home but aren’t apt to think of until you need them. For example:

salt, pepper, sugar
other basic seasonings & spices
a little flour
food storage containers
plastic wrap
potholders
scissors
kitchen timer
measuring cup

(These come from a longer packing list that I use when we go away to a favorite place where we rent a housekeeping cabin. A lot depends on how you cook, but I’m guessing you won’t want to live on frozen microwave meals for a month.)

Of course you could pick up such items locally, but I know you don’t want to spend what it would take to essentially duplicate what you have in your kitchen now. It’s amazing how much these little items add up to when you’re in for them all at once.

Also consider a small supply of standard household amenities—again, things you’re apt to forget about until you need them:

Scotch tape
a few dishtowels
sponge
needle and thread
safety pins
laundry bag
heating pad
etc.

Start right now, if not sooner, to pay attention to the things you use every day and don’t need two of, such as a toaster and a can opener. Are they provided? Can you do without them if not? Make a list.

I remember a toaster and coffee pot during our stay for his second interview. That’s about it. They do provide dry cleaning and they have washer and dryers. Which reminds me, don’t forget the laundry detergent and fabric softener!

Great suggestions!

Laundry detergent and fabric softener, yes, but don’t concentrate on the consumables. Buying those locally is ok because you’ll use them up eventually, whereas you probably don’t need two vegetable peelers or two heating pads. (Well, maybe you do.) A couple of those big plastic storage boxes (especially the ones with wheels!) and a lot of jigsaw-puzzle fitting can make your housekeeping items fairly easy to transport and store in the room without feeling too much like an idiot when you drag them all in.

I hope you’re staying someplace where you can bring this stuff in yourself instead of having to conspicuously haul it to the front desk and wait for somebody else to take it up. I traveled across country with my son a few years ago, staying someplace new nearly every night. Not only did we have housekeeping gear and his camping gear but he insisted on transporting a large houseplant that had to come inside with us at every stop. We mostly stayed at motels and travel lodges. I was grateful for every side entrance and self-serve elevator we found along the way.

If there would be lots of sea gulls around, take plenty of vodka to soak the French fries that you feed the gulls.

@kritiper Thanks for the much needed giggle. :D

@Jeruba We will be blessed with side entrances.

Don’t go crazy bringing stuff you can easily buy at the supermarket. You will be going to the market anyway to buy food.

Are you staying at a Residence Inn? Each hotel is different. RI gives you dish soap and dishwasher soap usually. They provide breakfast in the morning free. They have food in the evening 3 nights a week. Once in a while I used to bring a large helping to my room, eat half with some veggies I added, and save half for the next day. I usually did that with the pasta dishes. RI usually has glass containers with lids for food storage in the rooms. I used to take a couple cereals and milk from the breakfast bar to keep in the room so we didn’t have to go downstairs every morning for breakfast. Hell, I can eat cereal for dinner if I’m tired. I won’t go on about this since I don’t know your hotel, but you get the idea.

The microwave or oven will have a timer most likely, or you can use your phone. The front desk has scissors. They will have a potholder in the room, if you need an additional one ask the front desk. The front desk has tape, unless you use a ton of it. Dishtowels provided. At RI they even have printing paper and a printer, but again, I don’t know your hotel brand.

I would bring a laundry basket, and in the basket you can use the basket to transport some of your stuff if you are driving up.

I mentioned sweaters and a coat, don’t forget warm pajamas. Also, bring comfy loungewear or yoga pants that you can be in public in, so if you go to the breakfast area you don’t have to “get dressed.” Also, a swimsuit if you like to swim, assuming they have a pool.

Ugh, missed the edit…and if you like to excercise you need a couple of days of exercise clothes. Try to stay in your routine of things you like to do so your new place isn’t completely foreign. You will be most likely eating worse than usual, so if you do like to exercise it will help you not feel so yuck from the bad food and tight quarters.

I would keep it simple and just take the basics. Check the weather you should expect in Wisconsin at that time of year and bring warm/waterproof clothing as required. The hotel should provide facilities for washing and ironing clothes and may provide a wakeup call to get you up in the morning though I would bring an alarm clock of some sort myself, just in case. I would eat the hotel food rather than prepare my own if this is an option.

Remember that you will be there during a season change, pack clothes accordingly. It could go from hot to frosty in a day.

Disinfectant. Small quarters, whole family, lots of other people around.

Small space entertainment like puzzle books, coloring books, quiet stuff, because in small quarters noise irritates everyone quickly, including voices sometimes.
I don’t know about warm clothes, but be prepared for rain. You might gift wrap one small item for each person, and keep them secret. If somebody gets cabin fever bring out their gift to bring up spirits.

^^Are there kids along? I missed that.

@Patty_Melt, the youngest person along is a teenager.

We just got back from a trip. I was dismayed to find that I forgot my toothbrush charger. I ended up using a lot of dental floss and a plain old toothbrush from the drugstore. So be methodical when you pack and don’t forget the essentials you don’t think about.

Here’s another idea for dealing with cabin fever on a budget.

http://bobber.discoverwisconsin.com/24-ways-to-discover-wisconsin-for-free/

I don’t know what city you will be in, so I picked Green Bay, and I searched for “free things to do with kids in Green Bay”. I came up with this list. Some of the suggestions are pricey, but others are free. https://www.familydaysout.com/kids-things-to-do-usa/green-bay/wi

Other suggestions: Find all the dollar stores in your area and make regular trips.

Find the location of the nearest thrift shop. If you forget something be sure to check there first.

Yes, the kids are teens. So? I never mentioned formula or diapers.

Hair dye perhaps?

^nice one there

@snowberry It’s Madison, though my husband is a lifelong Packers fan. I’m sure we’ll venture that way in the future. :)

@JLeslie We’re staying at Staybridge. They have something similar with dinner and a nightly social 3 days a week. Indoor pool, sauna and gym. Free breakfast every day. That will definitely help. They have a nice selection of food. My son and I will be using the pool quite a bit. We can’t wait.

I have another question. What should we do about mail? Have mail sent to the hotel or a P.O. Box?

PO Box.

That way you’ll continue to be able to get your mail even after you move into the new address. You can’t depend on the hotel to save or forward any mail in case the post office slips up with your forwarding address card.

I used to swipe some bread from breakfast every few days, and some cheese and butter and make a quick grilled cheese when I felt like it. I use about 2 pats of butter a week so it wasn’t a big deal, and I’d never get through 4 sticks in a month, and I don’t eat a ton of bread, so it made sense. I’d also take apples and bananas here and there, they always had whole fruit set out. Since you are a whole family you will probably have to really do full shopping trips though.

Do your kids have their own room? Or, you have a 2 bedroom suite?

Gee, @JLeslie, you went to a lot of trouble to dispute all my suggestions. Of course the OP should take the ones that are useful to her and ignore the rest.

I was also respecting the fact that she doesn’t want to purchase anything she doesn’t have to. On a tight budget, even a roll of tape can seem like a lot. Personally, I like to have more rather than fewer ideas to choose from.

My main suggestions were “find out” and “make [your own] list.” I hope you don’t think they require correction.

@Jeruba Sorry if I came off harsh towards your suggestions. I see later you even suggested not to be too concerned about perishables. Some of the items the hotel will have. Some of the items if the OP has them packed up in storage and has to buy some new, if it’s something she uses up anyway, it doesn’t matter that she has double for a few months. A month isn’t long to muddle through, although sometimes the month turns into two.

No problem with bringing Saran Wrap and ziplock bags, but if she forgets it’s not that important was my only point. The hotel is very nice to long term stays, they treat them like they live there. That’s how it’s always been for me anyway. If you run out of milk they will go into the main kitchen fridge for you, give you an envelope to mail a letter, etc.

Sorry again if it felt like I was attacking your points.

I appreciate all suggestions. :)